boss was forced into a late tactical change before his side’s 4-3 win against Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Dutchman earned arguably the biggest victory of his United career to date with a thrilling win against the club’s biggest rivals at the Theatre of Dreams.
United scored late in normal time to take the game to extra-time, and scored twice more in the final 15 minutes of the added period to progress to the quarter-finals.
Liverpool had their fair share of dominance throughout the game, particularly after half-time.
But United started the quicker, with Erik ten Hag making a host of changes following the 2-0 win against Everton eight days earlier.
One of those changes was the reintroduction of Aaron Wan-Bissaka after two months out.
The defender was brought back into the side and was surprisingly selected at left-back, with Diogo Dalot – who is adept on either side – playing at right-back.
The Daily Mail say Wan-Bissaka’s inclusion was a late decision and that Victor Lindelof had been earmarked to start.
However, the Swede had to move to centre-back following injury to Jonny Evans, which saw a spot open up at left-back.
While Dalot would have been expected to play there, he had spent the week preparing to face Luis Diaz and Ten Hag felt he should play up against him.
Added to that, Ten Hag wanted Wan-Bissaka’s one-on-one defending up against Mohamed Salah on the left.
The tactics worked well, with Wan-Bissaka performing excellently before making way after 70 minutes.
Dalot survived the 120 minutes, making up a four-man defence at the finish with Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes and Antony.
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